US Military Withdraws From Part of Mideast

By Mark Davidson on August 16, 2026 • ( 2 )

(16 August 2026) It is now 10 pm MST August 16, or, 4 AM GMT, August 17. We have been watching events centered on Iran and its regime, waiting for escalation of what looks to be the Second Signpost.

We have been watching since February 28. The Strait of Hormuz has been closed since March 2, and has been so for 168 days.

Daniel 8:4 says the Persian ram will get to do all it wants to do in its invasion and that no one will be able to stop it.

Many critics have said the US would never allow Iran to do these things.

I have always countered that if the Second Signpost is true, than either the US would be defeated in the Middle East, or it would withdraw its forces from around Iran.

Well, we can already say Iran has defeated the US up to this point. The US has not been able to remove the regime, stop nuclear weapons development, or keep Hormuz open. On the flip side, Iran now has control of the Strait of Hormuz when it didn’t before.

But more than a defeat, US forces have actually partially evacuated from the Middle East.

There are no US Navy ships in the Persian Gulf.

This site has mentioned this fact before, but let us pause and reflect on the significance of this.

We are reminded of this by a video released by Dan Davis’ Deep Dive. We are reminded from time 00:18 to 02:49 of this development. The US bases are wrecked, and to rebuild them requires ships with materials. However, no ships can enter the Persian Gulf without fear of being hit by Iranian missiles.

Conclusion

Think about that: the US military has been forced to evacuate the Persian Gulf. And so it has been forced to evacuate a part of the Middle East. The US is being humiliated, and Russia and China are watching.

We will see if the US is forced to withdraw from the entire Middle East, or might be further defeated.

Each day, I believe we are getting closer and closer to the Second Signpost. I believe we are at better than 90 percent odds we are indeed witnessing the opening stages of the Second Signpost.

Keep watch.